The present invention relates generally to candle making devices and, more particularly, to a candle forming kit having a wax chopping container with a plurality of wax manipulation tool attachments.
A significant problem experienced when burning candles is that only the core of a wax candle burns along with the wick, thus leaving a significant amount of unused wax. Continuously discarding used candles having a large amount of unused wax and purchasing new candles is an unfortunate expense and unnecessary frustration experienced by persons who frequently enjoy burning candles.
Several devices have been proposed in the art for reusing the wax of previously burned candles to form new candles. While assumably effective for their intended purposes, existing devices do not conveniently provide all of the necessary wax manipulation tools wherewith to extract old wax from candle containers and process it into a reusable form.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a candle forming kit which is useful wherewith to scrape old wax from a previously used candle container, to cut the extracted wax into smaller portions, to chop the cut wax into even smaller portions, and to mash or tamp the chopped wax into a new container so as to form a new candle. Further, it is desirable to have a candle forming kit in which a handle member of a chopping container is removable from the container and independently useful as a handle for a plurality of blade assemblies.
A kit for forming candles according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a container having a cylindrical side wall, a bottom wall 13, and an open top. A lid is threadably coupled to the side wall so as to releasably cover the open top. The lid is releasably attached so that chunks of wax may be deposited within the container as wax is extracted from previously burned candles. Further, a shaft is positioned in said container for rotation about an imaginary vertical axis extending longitudinally through the container. The shaft includes a threaded first end which extends upwardly through the lid and includes a second end disposed within the container itself and having a plurality of chopper blades axially spaced about the second end. The first end of the shaft is threadably coupled to a cylindrical handle member.
The kit further includes a compression spring mounted within the lid that is coupled to the shaft. The spring is biased and the shaft is moved downwardly upon a downward pressure by a user upon the handle member. Conversely, the spring becomes unbiased and the shaft is moved upwardly upon an upward pressure upon the handle member, or merely by applying no pressure at all to the handle member. At a biased configuration, the chopper blades are substantially adjacent the bottom wall of the container, while the blades are adjacent the spring when the spring is in its unbiased configuration. Repeated up/down movements of the handle member allow the chopper blades to chop wax deposited in the container into small pieces or crumbs. The handle member may also be rotated while the spring is biased so as to mix the deposited wax.
The cylindrical handle member defines opposed open ends, each open end being threaded. The kit further includes a plurality of blade assemblies, each assembly having a particular blade configuration coupled to a cap member with a rod and each assembly is adapted for a particular type of wax manipulation. A tamping device is also provided and able to be threadably coupled to an open end.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a candle forming kit in which unused wax from previously burned candles may be extracted and processed for reuse in a newly formed candle.
Another object of this invention is to provide a candle forming kit, as aforesaid, in which candles may be made easily and affordably using previously burned candles.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a candle forming kit, as aforesaid, which can cut, pry, scrape, and shred wax from a previously burned candle.
A further object of this invention is to provide a candle forming kit, as aforesaid, which can chop large chunks of wax into much smaller pieces or crumbs.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a candle forming kit, as aforesaid, in which the handle of a chopper assembly may be utilized independently as a handle for a variety of other wax manipulating tools.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention.